LONDON – The pints were cold, the accents were often British and for one night, the loudest people in the room were raving and reminiscing about Tempe, Arizona.
As Arizona State and Kansas prepared to square off in the inaugural Union Jack Classic at Wembley Stadium, a Sun Devil-friendly pub became a temporary outpost for Sparky and his fans. For those thousands of miles from home, it offered a chance to recreate game-day rituals in an unfamiliar environment.
Passyunk Avenue is one of the few establishments in London that regularly shows live American college sports on television. When conversations began between the pub and Union Jack Classic organizers, “It was a naturally strong pairing,” associate general manager Mark Janz said.
“To have this opportunity to be spotlit for such a strong community across these schools and states feels really good for us. How far we’ve come, growth-wise in the last four years is invigorating.”
Passyunk’s location in Waterloo was the official pre-game party spot for Arizona State fans, while its location in Battersea was the official spot for Kansas fans. Both crowds saw overlaps in fan attendance.
When Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham was presented with the opportunity to play the first FBS college football game in historic Wembley Stadium, it was an inconvenient, yet easy decision to make.
“There’s zero positive from a football perspective,” Dillingham said. “No way would I want our team to fly across the country Week 3 to play this game, but they’re still college athletes. I wasn’t going to rob them from an experience to fly across the country, see London and play in (Wembley), a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
The Sun Devil faithful seemed to carry the same sentiments. Most came from the United States exclusively for the game, and the days leading up to it.
From left to right, John, Chris, Kayla and Mark Alvarez ‘13 enjoyed their time in the Leake Street tunnels at Draughts, next to Passyunk Avenue in London. (Photo by Ian King/Cronkite News)
“Saw it on the website, we’re there,” said Kelly Rosales, ’88. She even convinced her husband, Mundo, a University of Arizona graduate, to come along and rep maroon and gold all the way from Indianapolis.
Mark Alvarez, ’13, a season ticket holder alongside three family members, chooses one ASU road game every season to attend. While Texas A&M the previous week was the original plan, Alvarez said that all it took was a “why not” to convince his family to replace it with the trip overseas.
Sam Ferguson is a committed and tenured ASU fan who lives in London, but he never attended the school. Ferguson was in the British Army, based in Yuma, Arizona in 2015, when a few Arizona State alumni took Ferguson to then-Sun Devil Stadium for a football game. He was “hooked.”
“I couldn’t believe it when I saw ASU was coming here,” Ferguson said. “I instantly said ‘We’re going.’”
Rick and Nicole Rockrlin ‘01, ‘05 are from Kansas City, but took their honeymoon in London, which made the decision to come back for a game easy. With all the time that had passed, they were able to bring their 11-year-old son Miles and convert him into a Sun Devil fan.
Will Caspari, who also lives in London, did a one-semester exchange program in the spring of 2019, meaning he’s never been to an ASU game in Tempe. Although the Jayhawks are technically the home team, Caspari is highly anticipating the neutral field Wembley will offer.
“If people (in the UK) could experience a college atmosphere over there, they would (love) a team immediately,” Caspari said. “I had a better time at ASU games than the average soccer game (in the UK).”
With the pre-game festivities out of the way, all that remains is the matchup between Arizona State and Kansas, which takes place at 9 a.m. MST.
This <a target=”_blank” href=”https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2026/09/18/passyunk-avenue-became-sun-devil-street-ahead-of-the-union-jack-classic/”>article</a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org”>Cronkite News</a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.<img src=”https://i0.wp.com/cronkitenews.azpbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/favicon1.png?resize=85%2C85&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”>
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Passyunk Avenue became Sun Devil Street ahead of the Union Jack Classic
Ian King, Cronkite News
September 18, 2026
LONDON – The pints were cold, the accents were often British and for one night, the loudest people in the room were raving and reminiscing about Tempe, Arizona.
As Arizona State and Kansas prepared to square off in the inaugural Union Jack Classic at Wembley Stadium, a Sun Devil-friendly pub became a temporary outpost for Sparky and his fans. For those thousands of miles from home, it offered a chance to recreate game-day rituals in an unfamiliar environment.
Passyunk Avenue is one of the few establishments in London that regularly shows live American college sports on television. When conversations began between the pub and Union Jack Classic organizers, “It was a naturally strong pairing,” associate general manager Mark Janz said.
“To have this opportunity to be spotlit for such a strong community across these schools and states feels really good for us. How far we’ve come, growth-wise in the last four years is invigorating.”
Passyunk’s location in Waterloo was the official pre-game party spot for Arizona State fans, while its location in Battersea was the official spot for Kansas fans. Both crowds saw overlaps in fan attendance.
When Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham was presented with the opportunity to play the first FBS college football game in historic Wembley Stadium, it was an inconvenient, yet easy decision to make.
“There’s zero positive from a football perspective,” Dillingham said. “No way would I want our team to fly across the country Week 3 to play this game, but they’re still college athletes. I wasn’t going to rob them from an experience to fly across the country, see London and play in (Wembley), a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
The Sun Devil faithful seemed to carry the same sentiments. Most came from the United States exclusively for the game, and the days leading up to it.
“Saw it on the website, we’re there,” said Kelly Rosales, ’88. She even convinced her husband, Mundo, a University of Arizona graduate, to come along and rep maroon and gold all the way from Indianapolis.
Mark Alvarez, ’13, a season ticket holder alongside three family members, chooses one ASU road game every season to attend. While Texas A&M the previous week was the original plan, Alvarez said that all it took was a “why not” to convince his family to replace it with the trip overseas.
Sam Ferguson is a committed and tenured ASU fan who lives in London, but he never attended the school. Ferguson was in the British Army, based in Yuma, Arizona in 2015, when a few Arizona State alumni took Ferguson to then-Sun Devil Stadium for a football game. He was “hooked.”
“I couldn’t believe it when I saw ASU was coming here,” Ferguson said. “I instantly said ‘We’re going.’”
Rick and Nicole Rockrlin ‘01, ‘05 are from Kansas City, but took their honeymoon in London, which made the decision to come back for a game easy. With all the time that had passed, they were able to bring their 11-year-old son Miles and convert him into a Sun Devil fan.
Will Caspari, who also lives in London, did a one-semester exchange program in the spring of 2019, meaning he’s never been to an ASU game in Tempe. Although the Jayhawks are technically the home team, Caspari is highly anticipating the neutral field Wembley will offer.
“If people (in the UK) could experience a college atmosphere over there, they would (love) a team immediately,” Caspari said. “I had a better time at ASU games than the average soccer game (in the UK).”
With the pre-game festivities out of the way, all that remains is the matchup between Arizona State and Kansas, which takes place at 9 a.m. MST.
This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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